For the thousands of homeless people living in Toronto, winter is the most challenging and dangerous season. Heavy snowfall crushed tents and cold rain leaked through them, damaging belongings and soaking sleeping places.
When Khaleel Seivwright questioned the fall of the city’s housing crisis last year, he hoped his background in carpentry could help. Within a few weeks, his small wooden houses began to appear in city parks.
But the story of a carpenter whose modest structures represent the inequalities in the home in Canada’s largest city took a tragic turn this month when a man died in a fire. Days later, Toronto announced that it would enforce a court order that would prevent Seivwright from moving or maintaining his wooden shelters, which officials described as a fire hazard.
The tragedy and the reaction of the city have angered angry groups, claiming that the authorities are taking legal action against Seivwright while not addressing chronic problems in the public housing system.
“They make someone slanderous who literally does the work he has not yet been able to do,” said Lorraine Lam, an outreach worker in Toronto. “It’s completely unfair.”
The city’s homelessness crisis has worsened over the years as demand for affordable housing has far exceeded supply. More than 10,000 people live without access to housing – a figure that is likely to have increased in the coronavirus pandemic.
The city said there is enough space in shelters for the homeless, but outreach workers like Lam say the facilities are often full or considered unsafe. As the coronavirus pandemic adds another low risk, residents often make the difficult decision to sleep outside.
At the end of 2020, as winter approached, Seivwright tried to help. He began building small portable structures with donations and funds. Each unit, which took eight hours to build, was equipped with fiberglass insulation, a fire alarm, carbon monoxide detector and locks and cost nearly C $ 1,000 (US $ 786) to manufacture.
When the news of his project spread, the carpenter was quickly inundated with donations and raised more than C $ 200,000.
For those using the Seivwright shelters, it was a warmer, safer option than braving the deep cold of winter.
“Compared to a park bench or a tent or elsewhere, it saved my life,” said a small homeowner. “I think it’s one of the best things that can happen to this city right now … without it, people will drop left, right and center.”
City officials viewed the small structures as a safety hazard. In November, officials wrote a letter to Seivwright demanding that he “stop the production, distribution, supply and installation” of the shelters, adding that he would be held responsible for the removal costs.
An online petition has received more than 80,000 signatures protesting the city’s response.
But on February 12, the city increased and filed an application for an order that would prevent Seivwright from making, repairing and relocating small wooden shelters on the ground in the city, arguing that the shelters were unsafe.
Days later, a man in a wooden structure was killed by a fire. City officials, who have not yet revealed the cause of the fire or identified the victim, did not say whether the structure was made by Seivwright, but nonetheless announced that they would try to enforce the order.
“These structures are not allowed and it is not legal,” Toronto City spokesman Brad Ross told the Guardian. The city added an overcrowded capacity when needed, he said, and took steps to ensure shelters were safe during the pandemic. “The city’s view is that it is safer inside than outside.”
Seivwright pleaded with the city to drop the legal action against him, arguing that the funds used to pursue him could be better allocated.
‘The city of Toronto is facing a housing crisis. This pandemic has exacerbated it, “he said in a statement. video statement Monday – his first public remarks since the city’s decision to enforce the order. ‘Instead of working with me, the city sued to stop me from building and relocating the small shelters. The problem is not the small shelters. The problem is that the most vulnerable people of Toronto fall through the cracks. ”
For housing advocates, Seivwright’s work addresses a broader crisis in the city, in which residents in need of long-term shelter cannot find homes. Last year, 74 residents of the shelter died, the worst year recorded. Their average age was 50 years old.
“None of us celebrate people living in small wooden shelters. But it is literally the last resort for people, ”Lam said, adding that the waiting time for subsidized housing could take 12 years for a one-bedroom apartment. “People just want housing and are literally waiting for it.”